Over three separate trips, I island-hopped my way through every country in Oceania. Fourteen countries, countless flights, and a very varied experience of Pacific aviation. Some of these airlines are genuinely excellent. Some of them are an adventure in the least flattering sense of the word.
From delays and cancellations, to business class upgrades, here’s the definitive ranking. Worst to best, based entirely on personal experience.
11 – Air Niugini
Genuinely one of the worst airlines I’ve taken. They’ve reportedly improved since 2023 but are still not great, and for domestic routes, get ready for an experience. Planes from a previous era, hours of false hope about flights that are “about to leave” before not leaving at all, delays as standard, and generally poor service across the board. Avoid if you can, and if you can’t, build significant buffer time into whatever comes next.
Flies to: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and other Pacific routes, plus Australia and the Philippines!
If you’re flying Air Niugini, chances are you’re heading to Papua New Guinea (duh). Check out my guide on Papua New Guinea’s Tribal Festivals to prepare for your trip.
10 – United Island Hopper
United, you can do better. The Island Hopper is a legendary Pacific route, it hops between Honolulu and Guam via several Micronesian islands, but the execution is genuinely chaotic. No food or drinks for a seven-hour journey unless you have a credit card stored on file. Waiting over an hour for water. Missing passengers and rogue bags during island stops. One passenger got drunk, passed out, and a cabin crew member briefly thought he was dead. Betel nut being chewed and spat into bottles with zero intervention from staff. God bless the people riding this from one end to the other, that’s a rough twelve hours.
Flies to: Majuro (Marshall Islands), Pohnpei and Chuuk (Micronesia), Palau, Guam.
9 – Solomon Airlines
Full disclosure: I haven’t actually flown Solomon Airlines. They’ve moved or cancelled multiple flights I had booked with them, occasionally in an itinerary-ruining fashion. That’s enough to land them this low. If you’re planning a tight Pacific itinerary around Solomon Airlines connections, build in serious contingency.
Flies to: Honiara (Solomon Islands), Brisbane, Nadi (Fiji), Port Vila (Vanuatu).
If you’re flying Solomon Airlines, you’re probably flying to Solomon Islands or Vanuatu. so check out my guide to visiting both in a long weekend!
8 – Jetstar
Another disclaimer – I haven’t flown Jetstar to or from a Pacific island specifically, but I have done their flights from Asia to Australia, and they do the Sydney-Port Vila route so they’re in. Jetstar gets a lot of hate, but they’re a budget airline that will fly you six-plus hours for a reasonable price. Bare bones: no food, no entertainment, minimal baggage allowance. But if you know what you’re getting into, they’re passable. The check-in staff have been known to overlook slightly overweight bags if you’re nice about it. Not a guarantee, but worth noting.
Flies to: Port Vila (Vanuatu) from Sydney. And of course into/our of Australia and New Zealand.
7 – China Airlines
Routes from Taipei to Palau only, so a fairly niche inclusion. For daytime short-haul flights they’re a solid and affordable option. The issue: the seats are upholstered in faux leather that makes sleeping genuinely impossible. Your lower half slides down continuously until you’re essentially held in place by your seatbelt. On the flight into Taipei from Southeast Asia, they also left the cabin lights fully on during a six-plus hour overnight flight. Why. The world may never know. Not a crime in terms of pacific flights, but it contributed to the ranking.
Flies to: Palau from Taipei.
6 – Philippine Airlines
Routes to Papua New Guinea from Manila only. Philippine Airlines is perfectly decent – friendly staff, comfortable enough seats, in-flight entertainment, and they actually feed you. The main inconvenience is that a disproportionate number of their longer routes are overnight, which is a mild but consistent annoyance. Manila airport is also a fairly painful transit experience. Get past both of those things and you’re fine.
Flies to: Port Moresby (PNG) via Manila.
5 – Qantas
Comfortable, reliable, and they have beers. On paper, Qantas should rank higher. In practice, I’ve had enough individually irritating experiences to keep them at five. Strange rules about bag storage and seat changes enforced inconsistently and somewhat selectively. Multiple itinerary-disrupting flight changes, including one that moved me to a different airline 26 hours earlier than planned. I want to like Qantas, I really do, but they keep making it difficult.
Flies to: Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific routes from Australia.
4 – Virgin Australia
Pretty decent across the board. Pleasant crew, solid legroom, generally reliable. They serve several key Pacific routes including Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu from Australia. The one consistent irritant: you can’t check in online for international routes, which is a strange policy in this day and age. Flight reliability to the Pacific is hit and miss, but that’s fairly universal across these routes. All in all, can’t really complain.
Flies to: Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu from Brisbane and Sydney.
3 – Nauru Airlines
Genuinely great and consistently underrated. Full meals served on one-hour hops between islands. On time. Most significantly – takes you to destinations nobody else will. The saviour of trips to Kiribati and Nauru. And on their island hopper, the crew actually walk the plane identifying whose bag belongs to whom rather than making passengers scramble for their own luggage mid-flight. A small thing that makes a big difference. Take note, United.
Flies to: Nauru, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesoa, Palau, Fiji, Brisbane, and other Pacific island routes.
If you’re planning to fly this airline, you should check out my guide to Nauru here →
2 – Fiji Airways
The queen of Pacific aviation. A OneWorld member (ish) with connections across the Pacific. The only airline that flies to Tuvalu, and essential for connecting between otherwise unconnectable islands like Tonga and Samoa. In-flight entertainment on their larger aircraft, good food, and routes extending to Singapore, LA, and Vancouver. They even provide meals on tiny 70-seat propeller planes and hand out sweets on 20-minute domestic hops. Genuinely wonderful.
The only gripe: pricing. Flying from Australia to Fiji costs less than flying from Fiji to Tuvalu, which is a fraction of the distance. Supply and demand, obviously. But still. Make it make sense.
Flies to: Tuvalu, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and many more Pacific routes. Also long-haul to Singapore, LA, Vancouver.
1 – Air New Zealand
The best of the lot, both for long-haul to reach New Zealand and for the short-haul hops into the Pacific islands from there. Pricey but not extortionately so. Planes to Tonga and Samoa are large, which means good availability and generally fewer cancellations. Reliable, comfortable, and limited drama.
Bonus: I once scored a business class seat for less than the economy fare travelling between Christmas and New Year. The food was excellent and the selection of New Zealand wines was even better. Highly recommend trying your luck on that front.
Flies to: Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji and other Pacific routes from Auckland.
Practical notes on booking Pacific flights
Pacific flights are expensive, often limited in frequency, and prone to schedule changes. A few things worth knowing before you book:
- Book early – capacity on Pacific routes is small and prices rise steeply as flights fill
- On the rarer routes – plan very carefully. Flights to places like Tuvalu, and flights with the Nauru and United island hoppers, are not daily. In some cases you’re choosing between one day on an island or seven, with nothing in between. Your entire itinerary has to be built around flight schedules rather than the other way around. Pacific island hopping is like a really complicated puzzle – but that’s part of the fun!
- Build buffer time – especially around Air Niugini and Solomon Airlines connections. That can be hard given the above, but you have to try…
- Check baggage allowances carefully – several Pacific airlines have strict weight limits on smaller aircraft, especially on ATRs.
- Flexibility is essential – if you’re island hopping, keep your schedule loose enough to absorb a delay or cancellation without the whole itinerary collapsing. It is almost certainly going to happen at least once.
FAQ
What is the best airline for flying around the Pacific? Air New Zealand for reliability and comfort, Fiji Airways for Pacific connectivity. Nauru Airlines for the more remote. Between the three of them you can reach most of Oceania.
Is Air Niugini reliable? Not particularly. Delays and schedule changes are common, especially on domestic Papua New Guinea routes. Build generous buffer time around any Air Niugini connection.
How do you get to Tuvalu? Fiji Airways is the only airline that flies to Tuvalu, operating mostly from Suva, and once per week from Nadi. Flights are infrequent, typically once every couple of days, so plan well in advance.
How do you visit every country in the Pacific? Read my full guide to visiting every country in Oceania → for the complete picture on routes, timing, and what each country is actually like.
